updated 06:25 pm EDT, Tue April 26, 2011

Rogers and Virgin Mobile slip white iPhone 4 too

Canadian carriers joined in revealing plans for the white iPhone 4 this week as a pair of discoveries have pointed to the new color coming in. At least one Virgin Mobile store was already getting a "box load," while Rogers was sending an internal memo that was letting stores make orders but couldn't yet sell them, MobileSyrup said.

The details while specific to Canada did provide some early insight into pricing. As suspected, white iPhone 4 units would cost the same as their black counterparts, starting at $159 for a 16GB version and $269 for a 32GB model. Virgin's parent Bell, as well as Telus, are both presumed to be following suit.

Combined with premature sales in Belgium and the UK, along with Best Buy inventory tracking, the Canadian finding suggests Apple plans a worldwide, simultaneous release of the color for at least some of its largest markets. Apple has passed up its usual Tuesday schedule, but tips have most often identified Wednesday as the actual target date.

The white iPhone 4 has become an unusually singular focus at Apple after it refused to give up on the color due to paint issues. It first pushed the white model to July 2010 before moving it to the fall and, eventually, its currently cited spring timeframe. A Japanese solution to the paint problems may have been found at the start of the year and cleared a launch just in time for Apple to get half a year of sales before the iPhone 4's sequel arrived.